Senior Project Engineer – Manufacturing Engineering
About The Position
International Manufacturing Engineering has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Project Engineer – Manufacturing Engineering at our San Antonio Assembly Plant. This position will report to the Manufacturing Engineering Manager and will lead the planning and execution of manufacturing projects across the San Antonio campus, including Body, Paint, and General Assembly. The Project Engineer will be responsible for delivering projects ranging from capital equipment installations and process improvements to customer requests, corporate directives, and special engineering assignments. In this position, you will work directly with Manufacturing, Operations, Quality, Maintenance, Safety, R&D, Purchasing, Finance, IT, MES, suppliers, and contractors to define project requirements and develop solutions that meet business objectives. The position will be responsible for managing project scope, schedule, cost, risk, and implementation while ensuring projects are safely commissioned and transitioned into production. The ideal candidate will be a self-directed, hands-on project leader with proven experience delivering multi-million-dollar capital projects in a manufacturing environment. This individual will be expected to independently take assignments from concept through implementation, establish project direction, develop technical solutions, and lead cross-functional teams, suppliers, contractors, and engineering resources to successful completion. The role also requires strong technical expertise in industrial torque tooling and automated systems. Experience deploying, integrating, commissioning, troubleshooting, and supporting Atlas Copco torque tooling and controls is highly valued. The successful candidate will be comfortable working directly on the production floor and getting into the technical details when needed, while also communicating project status, risks, and recommendations effectively with plant and engineering leadership. The candidate will be expected to respond to production line calls, troubleshoot equipment and process issues during downtime events, and work directly with operations and maintenance teams to restore production. This includes assembling, modifying, testing, fabricating, and validating engineering solutions on the plant floor. Candidates should be comfortable using hand tools, working around manufacturing equipment, building prototypes, proving out concepts, and getting directly involved in implementation when required. This role requires an engineer who can move seamlessly between the strategic and technical aspects of project execution from developing the business case, SOW, and project plan through equipment procurement, installation, commissioning, troubleshooting, and production handoff. San Antonio Manufacturing runs a 4x10 production schedule (Mon-Thurs, 5:30AM - 4:00PM). This role requires flexibility to support production and project activities outside of normal working hours, including evenings and weekends, particularly during equipment installations, commissioning, production launches, and other critical project activities.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree and at least 1 year of product manufacturing experience OR Master's degree and no experience OR At least 3 years of product manufacturing experience
- Qualified candidates, excluding current employees, must be legally authorized on an unrestricted basis (US Citizen, Legal Permanent Resident, Refugee or Asylee) to be employed in the United States. We do not anticipate providing employment related work sponsorship for this position (e.g., H-1B status)
Nice To Haves
- Proven experience leading multi-million-dollar capital projects from concept through commissioning and production handoff
- Proven project management experience including scope, cost, schedule, risk, supplier, and contractor management
- Strong manufacturing engineering experience within an automotive, truck, or other high-volume manufacturing environment
- Hands-on experience with industrial torque tooling and automated fastening systems
- Demonstrated experience with Atlas Copco tooling, controllers, fastening systems, and tool deployment
- Experience specifying, purchasing, installing, programming, commissioning, troubleshooting, and supporting custom manufacturing tools
- Strong understanding of manufacturing tooling design, build, integration, and validation
- Demonstrated ability to lead projects in a matrix organization without direct authority
- Experience physically testing new solutions in a production environment including tooling, fixtures, jigs, etc.
- Strong interpersonal, communication, presentation, and problem-solving skills
- Ability to translate business and customer requirements into clear technical requirements and project deliverables
- Experience developing equipment specifications, SOWs, RFQs, capital requests, and project documentation
- Experience managing equipment suppliers, integrators, contractors, and engineering service providers
- Production floor experience with a demonstrated willingness to be highly hands-on, including responding to line downtime events, troubleshooting equipment issues, assembling and fabricating solutions, testing prototypes, modifying tooling, and supporting installation, startup, commissioning, and production launch activities.
- Proven ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities while maintaining project execution
- Experience with automotive or truck manufacturing processes and production systems
- Experience with 3D product viewers and/or Teamcenter
- Experience with error-proofing concepts, torque traceability, process monitoring, and manufacturing data systems
- Experience with ERP systems, purchasing processes, and capital equipment procurement
- Experience with AGVs/AMRs, automation, material handling, and manufacturing integration
- Experience developing project status reports and presenting project health, risks, and recovery plans to leadership
- Ability to analyze data and make fact-based engineering and business recommendations
- Strong organizational skills with demonstrated ownership and accountability for project results
Responsibilities
- Lead manufacturing engineering projects across the San Antonio campus, including Body, Paint, and General Assembly
- Lead multi-million-dollar capital projects from initial concept and business case through design, procurement, installation, commissioning, and production handoff
- Manage project scope, schedule, budget, risks, resources, and deliverables to ensure successful project execution
- Develop and contribute to internal Statements of Work (SOWs), equipment specifications, project plans, and capital requests
- Coordinate with internal engineering resources, contractors, suppliers, and equipment integrators throughout project execution
- Develop project concepts and evaluate alternative solutions based on safety, quality, capacity, cost, ergonomics, maintainability, and production requirements
- Serve as the technical project lead for manufacturing equipment, tooling, automation, and process-related projects
- Provide hands-on technical support during equipment installation, startup, commissioning, troubleshooting, and production launch
- Lead project readiness activities and ensure equipment and processes meet defined performance metrics prior to production handoff
- Partner with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Safety, R&D, and other functional organizations to identify requirements and resolve project issues
- Respond to assignment directives, customer requests, plant priorities, and special engineering assignments and develop actionable technical solutions
- Evaluate existing processes and equipment and identify opportunities for capacity, quality, safety, cost, and efficiency improvements
- Develop and maintain project documentation, technical specifications, schedules, budgets, and project status reporting
- Provide regular project updates and recommendations to Engineering and plant leadership
- Manage supplier and contractor performance and ensure deliverables meet project requirements
- Support development and implementation of error-proofing, automated fastening, data collection, and process monitoring solutions
- Apply knowledge of industrial tooling and fastening systems to develop, deploy, troubleshoot, and improve manufacturing solutions
- Support the deployment, integration, and validation of Atlas Copco tooling, controllers, fastening systems, and associated systems
- Ensure new and modified processes comply with applicable manufacturing, safety, quality, and engineering standards
- Develop and contribute to lessons learned, standards, and best practices to improve future project execution
- Resolve line downtime issues and production concerns including process, quality and safety related items.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
